Nigerian midfielder Sani Kaita has spoken of having sleepless nights following his sending off Thursday against Greece at the World Cup which cost his team three valuable points.
However, he has not given up hope that the Super Eagles could still make it into the knockout stage of the competition.
Kaita was sent off in the 33rd minute in his team’s 2-1 loss to Greece in a Group B match on Thursday for kicking at Vasileios Torosidis in a touchline scuffle.
The sending off proved to be the turning point of the game as Greece soon drew level before grabbing a winner for their first-ever World Cup victory.
“I couldn’t sleep all night thinking about what my action has cost my country, but I hope we will win our next game and thereafter I promise to put my life down on the pitch to ensure we go very far in this competition,” said Kaita.
Kaita’s personal Facebook page was inundated with negative comments about his conduct against Greece, but top team officials told German Press Agency that they are not aware of any serious threat to the player.
“I’m not aware of any threat on Kaita and neither are the other officials,” said spokesman for the Nigeria Football federation (NFF), Ademola Olajire.
The former Sparta Rotterdam player has issued an apology to the country, vowing to make up for his dismissal by playing well and being of good behaviour if Nigeria qualify for the knockout stage of the tournament.
“I cannot stop apologising to all Nigerians for making this costly mistake. I am very sorry and I pray that we win our next game (against South Korea) to qualify for the next round, where I hope to redeem my image with a good performance if I’m picked,” he offered.
“The mood in camp is really high. They have accepted my apology and they are now desperate to win our next game for me so that we could move to the second round of the competition.
“We still need the support and prayers of Nigerians for us to get the qualification ticket to the next round. Nigerians would see a different Sani Kaita when we qualify and I promise that what happened will never occur again.”
Kaita also revealed he lashed out at the Greek player after he swore at him.
“The guy hit the ball on my body (stomach) and abused me. That really got me very angry. That is why I reacted like that to him. But that was a big mistake by me and I will remember for a long time,” he lamented.
Nigeria have to beat South Korea in Durban on Tuesday, while hoping Argentina beat Greece for them to reach the round of 16 at this World Cup.
